Woman fears cats caught in wildfire
Only hope is they went back to their feral past
DENVER — When Lisa Young evacuated her home as a fast-moving Colorado wildfire burned, it looked like firefighters were going to be able to stop what appeared to be just a grass fire in a field behind her home. She took her purse, turned off her slow cooker and television and made sure her two cats had enough food and water to drink, thinking she would be back soon.
Later that night, staying with relatives, she watched images of her home outside of Denver burning on television, her driveway recognizable because of her father’s old Corvette on fire. Her house was one of nearly 1,000 destroyed in the blaze, leading her to fear that her calico cats, Joy and Noelle, 5-yearold sisters, died in the fire.
Most people safely evacuated from the wildfire that was propelled by 105 mph winds, but Young is among dozens of homeowners who either had pets who died, had to scramble to find them or still don’t know the fate of their dogs or cats.
If the windows in her home broke in the fire’s heat, there’s a chance the cats, who were feral as kittens and cannot be held unless they are willing, may have escaped, she said.
“There’s that one little hope,” said Young, who has been comforted by daily visits to take care of her horse, who was safe from the flames in his boarding stable.
There have been some happy endings. The neighbors of one police officer who was at work when the fire broke out were able to rescue his family’s three dogs before his family’s home was destroyed. Another man who was away at work when his home burned was reunited with his cat, who had a burned face, after someone heard it meowing outside a home that survived nearby.
The Humane Society of Boulder Valley has reunited over 25 pets with their owners since the fire destroyed homes in the communities of Louisville and Superior, including a dog who had spent two days outside and had some burned paws, the group’s CEO Jan Mchugh-smith said. The organization has also been taking care of about a dozen animals, including a tortoise and a cockatiel, in its shelter who cannot live with their owners in their temporary living situations, she said.
Young said she will not have closure until she is able to go back to her home and find any remains of her cats.
For now, her visits to Foxy, a 20-year-old quarter horse, gives her a bit of normalcy and comfort in her upended life. The horse is so in tune with her, he is tense because he feels how stressed she is now, she said.
On a visit Wednesday, she gave him an apple, supplements, hay, a brush-down, a vibrating back massage, a stall cleaning and a final pat on the back.
“I can still hug him. I can still kiss him and love on him. He’s needy like I am,” Young said, with a laugh.